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Trade Secrets

What you see when you look around your shop may be decidedly different from what your customers are seeing. It's worth your time to make sure that both views are the same.

Several years ago, when I first started my auto show on a New York area radio station, a reporter for the New York Daily News did a very flattering story about the show. But, like the cow who gives a great pail of milk then steps in the pail, the reporter blew it when he described me as a "grease monkey."

I don't mean to sound thin-skinned, but that term implies things to me that are so contrary to what I've tried to be that it makes me very unhappy, to say the least. The reporter interviewed me at the radio station in a totally greaseless environment. By golly, I had had a bath that morning and it wasn't even Saturday! I was wearing my best Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes and even had some "stickum" in my hair. I must say I was as pretty as a peacock and I smelled pretty good, too. And this bozo calls me a "grease monkey."

Having said that, I have to be fair, though, and say I can understand when some people use that term. Let's face it, we're in a business where grease on our hands or oily stains on our uniforms are an everyday occurrence. I remember one occasion when I stopped into a coffee shop and the woman next to me complained I smelled like an oil truck. And she was right. I had been squirted changing a diesel filter just before I left for coffee. Embarrassed, I went right home, showered and changed my uniform.

I tried to rationalize that people should understand that technicians may get a little grimy when they work on cars. The fact is, many people are sensitive to the odors we get so used to working with every day that we almost don't smell them anymore or we do but they don't offend us. Some customers go ballistic when they feel any trace of oil on the steering wheel. A drop of grease on the floor or upholstery is an unforgiveable sin.

The thing is, it's easy to get used to not being careful enough about customers' cars while you're working on them. I recall one shop owner who told me his goal is to return every car to his customers cleaner than when they arrived. To that end he uses steering wheel covers, seat covers and magnetic fender covers, and has instituted a procedure where every car is washed and inspected before it's delivered to the customer. Sounds a little like cleanliness overkill, but the system works for him. His shop is thriving, due in no small part to the fact that he's a good technician, but he believes lots of customers put great stock in getting their cars back clean.

I tend to agree. I remember one woman raising the devil in my shop because she smelled the odor of cigarettes in her car when she came to pick it up after a repair. And, she was right. When I investigated I found that the tech who was working on her car smoked during the road test.

When you run your own shop, it's easy to get caught up in the everyday problems of repairing cars. What's more important, getting the work done quickly and efficiently or having a clean waiting room and well-groomed technicians? You don't get paid for having cleanshaven workers. You don't get paid for having a dust- and clutter-free waiting room. You don't get paid for not smelling like diesel fuel. You don't get paid for washing cars. You get paid for doing the right job at the right price. Or do you?

Think for a moment about why you may choose to stop at a heavily advertised burger shop when there are other decent-looking places nearby. Is it because you know you can count on the chain shop being squeaky clean? Is it because you know if your kids or your spouse use the restroom they'll find it to be clean? Maybe the burgers aren't as good as the local place with ratty seats and old, faded curtains, but you go to the crisp, bright chain burger shop. Or, have you had a great burger at the local shop but suspected their kitchen wasn't too clean, especially when the person who made your burger gave you change while still wearing latex gloves?

Most customers haven't got a clue as to the amount of money you've invested in hand tools and diagnostic equipment. They may see you use a scanner and it never dawns on them you shelled out over $3000 for just that one piece of equipment. They could never even guess how much your lifts or the refrigerant recycling machine cost. But they're experts on clean. If your shop is grimy or your techs are unkempt, they'll notice, and it will make an impression.

Silly things you may never think of can make a negative impression. You may think it's ridiculous for customers to make a judgment about the competence of the shop by the fact that the guy lubricating their car is wearing a greasy welder's cap, or that instead of a uniform the guy doing a brake job is wearing camouflage hunting pants and shirt. Or the fact that he has a box of 16 gauge shotgun shells on his toolbox. The reality is, like it or not, those things do make a big impression on some customers.

You don't build customer confidence by allowing your techs to look like anything but what they are competent technicians who can fix customers' cars right the first time. Sleeveless T-shirts, bandannas, long hair, poorly kept beards, grimy clothes and a hundred other things you might not consider to be important to getting the job done can and often do turn off customers.

I know from the hundreds of calls I used to get on my radio program. Callers often complained that while they liked the guy who owns the shop where they take their car, they're concerned about the "characters" he has working for him. Certainly, it's unfair to judge a person's competence by his grooming. But in business, it's not a question of what's fair but what impression is made on the customers. If they don't come back, there is no business.

The Trade Secret is to know that the image your shop projects including the people who work for you can play an important role in your shop's success. Try for a few moments to put yourself in your customers' shoes. Look at your shop, your employees and yourself with fresh eyes. Maybe you need to rent new uniforms. Maybe you need to have a sit-down with certain employees who look and smell like they just climbed out of a hunting blind. Perhaps you could have your spouse, or your brother or sister, take an objective look at what is right and what is wrong with the image your shop is putting out there. Put your pride and your ego aside for a while and listen to the constructive criticism about what might actually be turning off a percentage of prospective new customers and causing you to lose some regulars.